Cover while chilling?

[sgillespie]

When chilling the wort post boil is it best to leave it uncovered or cover it? I haven't been able to find any information on this.

I wonder if leaving it uncovered encourages unwanteds to evaporate (DMS, etc), or if the risk of contamination is too great..

What do you all do?

 

[Demfer]

I keep mine loosly covered, nasties and dust fall straight down so I like to have something in place to minimize stuff falling into the wort. My 2cents. Something like a pot lid should be sufficient.

 

[superjunior]

mine is never covered as I have a wort chiller in the mix and I'm stirring to bring down the temp

 

[Daybis]

I have a notch cut into my lid so I can cover it and still have my wort chiller in there. I'm paranoid about things falling into my wort.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I'd leave it uncovered, at least until the temp is above 160 degrees. After that, I usually cover it at least partially while working the wort chiller to improve chilling efficiency. Either way is fine, really - thousands of dust particles will settle into your wort before you get it chilled and ready to pitch by leaving it uncovered, while you can get nasty off-flavors from leaving it covered. I haven't had an infection in about two and a half years using my method in the kitchen and the back porch.

 

[smizak]

FWIW, I cover mine loosely with some sanitized aluminum foil. That way I can still stir the chiller.

 

[SauceBoss]

I brew outside so I always leave mine covered to make sure no particles from the wilderness make their way into the wort. And I just submerge my pot into the tub filled with water and ice and just switch it out 2 - 3 times. Never had a problem getting it down to temp before.

 

[Captain Damage]

I cover it tightly. I do partial boils and chill in an ice bath. I clamp the lid on with binder clips with my thermometer probe in the pot. With the lid on tightly, I can spin the pot in the ice bath to speed cooling and cold break without risk of spilling wort.

 

[sgillespie]

Sounds to me like its just a personal preference. Any reason not to do 1 or the other?

 

[mixedbrewer]

Since I brew partials, I just crash the temp with cold water.

 

[weirdboy]

I used to cover when I first started and only did extract batches with no chiller, and spent an hour or more chilling the wort down to pitching temps. Now I use a plate chiller and recirculate back into the BK to create a whirlpool, so I leave it uncovered. It only takes 5-10 minutes to chill and then I just move my output hose to the fermenter, so not much danger.